This is the story of Plunkduck. Plunkducks were originally Jen’s idea. (Jen is the co-founder of Plunk Soap.) She saw the idea in one of the many soap making books on the market. I must admit I didn’t think a rubber duck atop a bar of soap fit our all natural persona. But Jen diligently created her Plunkducks, packaged them and took them to some shows. Low and behold – they sold. Kids were naturally drawn to them and parents gladly okay’d the non-candy, non-toy purchases. People were buying them for shower gifts, to grace birthday gift packages or just as novelties for children and grandchildren.While these purchases did not exceed those of our natural, aromatically therapeutic soap bars or sales of soy candles or spray lotions, they did represent a significant percentage of our receipts. Because of that, I needed to re-think my stance on Plunkducks.
How to do that… First, Plunkducks would need to become as natural as the rest of our product line. That was the easy part. And as all of our essential oils, bottles and tops are phthalate free, these darn ducks needed to be too. Turns out – they were much easier to find than I had anticipated so we placed an order. When they arrived, I had to admit that I even LIKED a lot of them. Who wouldn’t like a duck disguised as a cat or a dog or even a super hero? But still, I wasn’t quite there.
In between shows, I set off on a mini vacation with my 10 & 9 year olds to Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains of New York state. Plunkducks were completely off my mind. Swimming, boating, kayaking, fishing, shopping occupied our days… not a Plunkduck in sight. Ample use of BUG OFF spray, EVENTIDE after sun spray, GERM STUFF lotion and a BUG OFF soy candle did not bring to my mind the Plunkduck dilemma. Until one fateful afternoon…
My sister had taken her oldest son and my two kids boating on Lake George to do some tubing. My younger nephew and I remained on shore, watching from an Adirondack chair strewn dock. It was perfect. My kids were happily occupied AND we had a dinner plan. I could spend this bit of time chatting with my nephew/godson and maybe even read some of the novel I had carried down in my tote along with a diet Dr. Pepper. My nephew decided to paddle around in a kayak so I reached into my tote for my book… and there it was. My son had secreted a “catduck”, sans the soap bar, into my tote. I am sure his intent was to have it for vacation bath time or even to float it in the lake but here it sat – begging for my attention. Thus began my vacation bonding attempt with a Plunkduck.
We did some sightseeing.
We considered swimming but considered the vast 3 ½ foot depth and vetoed it.
Kayaking was fun for me to watch but not so much for Plunkduck. (They didn’t have small enough life jackets and I didn’t have any duct tape.)We ended our time together hanging out on the dock watching storm clouds rolling in from the west.
The time came for me to pack up and head over to the marina to help my sister secure the boat and gather my kids before the daily, late June thunderstorm hit. As I stowed my book, camera and Plunkduck back in my tote, I had to admit that I felt a little differently about our Plunkduck product. They definitely have personality and therefore – a place at Plunk Soap. And yes… they will soon be available on our website.
